We hosted a delegation of seven Japanese business professionals from Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). The delegation was in Montana to explore bioprocessing and bioscience opportunities. Thank you to Pasta Montana, MRI, and Sustainable Oils for being such great hosts and sharing your organization with our guests! PHOTO: The JETRO delegation learning about Pasta Montana. Pasta Montana’s produces 85 million pounds of pasta annual that is shipped globally right out of Great Falls Montana!
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Here is our Top 12 for this week celebrating work and successes to grow and strengthen the Great Falls regional economy -- Montana's Golden Triangle. And, sharing business resources and skill-building opportunities to empower your success.
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1) Please help businesses, workers and residents affected by this week's flooding in several Montana communities. Let them know about these resources:
From the SBA: U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION DISASTER LOAN ASSISTANCE. The SBA issued a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of MONTANA | Disaster Declaration. Federal Disaster Loans for Businesses, Private Nonprofits, Homeowners, and Renters | Public Assistance Fact Sheet. MORE information.
From the Montana Department of Labor and Industry: Resources for Flooding Victims--
Unemployment Insurance
Individuals who have lost work due to flooding may be eligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. To file a claim online, visit MontanaWorks.gov. You can also call the Unemployment Insurance Division's Claims Processing Center at (406) 444-2545 if you have questions.
Job Service Montana
Job Service Montana locations can help provide a range of resources to those out of work or seeking work due to this disaster. Individuals impacted can contact Job Service Billings at (406) 652-3080.
We encourage you to share this information with individuals you may know in the impacted areas.
The Department of Labor & Industry continues to work to respond and provide services to those impacted by the disaster. Stay tuned to the Department's website and Facebook page for additional updates in the days to come.
Governor Gianforte urges Montanans to support local businesses affected by the floods as they reopen. We agree!!
2) Big Iron Truck and RV Wash, located south of I-15 at Exit 277, is now officially open after hosting their grand opening and ribbon cutting event with the Great Falls Chamber of Commerce on Friday, June 17th. Partners Curt Runia and Aaron Corbett started work on the project nearly three years ago. Congratulations and thank you to Curt and Aaron for investing in our region as well as Opportunity Bank for financing the project!
3) The Cascade County Commission voted unanimously to issue $60 million in bonds for the Touro Montana Medical School in Great Falls. These bond carry no risk to the County or taxpayers yet offer a great lower interest rate benefit to businesses and institutions. See TheElectric.
4) TECH Companies – this is for you! Join us at an Early Stage Montana reception on June 22 at 5:30 PM to learn more about the Montana Tech Accelerator Program. The Tech Accelerator is developed for emerging Montana tech-sector startups who want to scale quickly, create jobs, and succeed. Please email Jenni Graff, Early Stage MT, to RSVP and for details.
5) The Cascade County Zoning Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to approve a special use permit for Friesen Nutrition to develop a 17,000 square foot premix facility to produce vitamin, trace mineral and other mixes to supplement on-farm feeds for livestock. See TheElectric.
6) Great Falls native Andrew Brown and his wife Lyla opened Magpie in Machinery Row at 202 2nd Ave South in Great Falls. Learn more about Magpie in our announcement of the week. See KRTV story.
7) Join us to celebrate the first seven graduates of our new Accelerate Your Startup program at a Business Pitch In event on Tuesday, June 28th from 11 AM - 1 PM at The Wild Hare (located at 518 Central Avenue in Great Falls). Save the date and join us to hear the pitches of these new businesses and enjoy opportunity to buy a great lunch.
9) The Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce announced the inaugural Worlds of Work! (WOW). WOW is a career expo pioneered by West Alabama Works. Though NOT a typical job fair, this event opens new avenues of opportunity for middle school students they never knew were possible. The Chamber's goal this first year is to have sixteen Worlds, each representing one of Montana’s sixteen recognized career pathways. On October 18th, 2022, WOW will be held at Great Falls College – MSU and the University of Providence (inside and outside) from 7:30 AM - 6:00 PM. Area 8th graders will be divided into groups and will have a navigator who will guide them to each of the worlds, where they will explore for approximately 20-25 minutes before traveling to the next world. WOW Varsity, the block for high school students, will be in the late afternoon, and will include sophomores only for this first year. Check out the West Alabama WOW. Contact Scott Wolff for more info at [email protected].
10) Congratulations to Spika Design & Manufacturing on earning the SHARP (Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program) designation from the Montana Safety and Health Bureau.
11) Great Falls Public Schools is adding baseball as a high school sport in 2024; see TheElectric. In a story about Registered Apprenticeships, KRTV featured Great Falls High School's Madison Hewitt who completed an apprenticeship program and earned her Child Development Associate Credential.
12) Complimented area banks and credit unions for the help they gave small businesses in the Great Falls trade area at a town hall event held by the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at Great Falls College MSU, and urged him to advocate within the Federal Reserve to provide loan capital to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI's) and to fix tribal reservation commercial credit issues that prevent the support of entrepreneurship on tribal reservations.
Have a great week!
Brett
Brett Doney
President & CEO
Connect with me on LinkedIn to network with the Great Falls Montana region. Forward the GFDA Top 10 to friends and colleagues. You can join our distribution list HERE or text GFDA to 22828.
"Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."
Henry James
Edition 537
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Cost-Effective Rail-Served Industrial Sites Available
If your company needs a rail-served, BNSF-Certified, shovel-ready site with all municipal services at your door, we have lots available for immediate construction in the Great Falls AgriTech Park. Contact Jolene Schalper at 1.406.750.4481 or [email protected]
June SBA 504 Loan Rates
The 25-year loan effective rate (including all fees) came in at 5.187%; 20-year at 5.127%; 10-year equipment loan at 4.922%; and, 20-year refinance 5.141%; 25-year refinance 5.200%. These rates are FIXED for the life of the loan and are inclusive of all fees. If you would like to find out how to get financing for commercial real estate and equipment at potentially lower rates than you're paying for your home mortgage, please contact Jill Kohles at 406-590-1056 or [email protected].
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Events, Business Training, and Opportunities
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Early Stage Montana is bringing its roadshow to Great Falls on June 22nd. They are recruiting for their 2022 Accelerator Series cohort and are coming to town to meet with startups and bring the local tech community together for one evening. Entrepreneurs, advisors, or anyone interested in getting involved in the local tech startup scene are invited to attend the Early Stage Montana Roadshow Receptions. Register here.
Save the dates for four new trainings we’ve recently added to our Business Education Calendar this summer. We’ll be hosting our cash flow and profitability course Profit Mastery on July 8th and July 15th . We’re also launching a new training to inspire and educate entrepreneurs about becoming a franchise owner. Becoming a Franchisee: An Alternate Path to Business Ownership will be hosted in-person July 29 and via a two-part webinar August 11 and August 18.
The Montana Innovation Partnership is offering a number of trainings and an accelerator program for companies interested in pursuing Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants.
Great Falls College MSU is working with partners to create a CDL Truck Driving program in Great Falls. They need full-time and part-time instructors -- download job description -- and employers to support this important workforce development effort with funds, equipment, and commitments to recruit participants and hire successful graduates. Contact Tammie Hickey at 406-771-5104 or [email protected].
The transition is complete! The D-U-N-S number has gone away, and the SAM.gov-generated Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) isnow the authoritative identifier for all U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and Integrated Award Environment (IAE) systems. If you are registered in SAM.gov (active or not), you have already been assigned a UEI (SAM). To register your business in SAM.gov for the first time, get a UEI (SAM), or to find out more information about how this transition affects you, contact your Great Falls PTAC and connect with Shannon at [email protected]
Montana STEP grants can pay for 75% of your international export marketing efforts up to $10,000. The Montana TechLink Center at MSU is offering a new round of workshops on how to win Small Business Innovation Research funding.
What’s it like to live in Great Falls Montana? Get a glimpse through the new Great Falls 2022 Livability Magazine! Livability Great Falls is a tool for recruiting people from outside our community and is one of the tools for our Talent Attraction campaign. We also have a Email List to share resumes of trailing partners and others and we promote Hot Jobs – jobs that would entice people to move here. If you are recruiting people from outside Great Falls, click here to join our recruiter email list and learn more.
USDA launched a Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) to help compensate producers with their livestock losses incurred by adverse weather or attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the Federal Government. LIP payments are equal to 75% the average fair market value of the livestock. For more information visit the USDA website here.
We have migrated our pre-business workshop for early stage and pre-venture startups to a self-paced, video-facilitated, online format. Business Basics for Startups is now live and ready for beta testing. If you’d like to check out the content and provide feedback, we’d appreciate it. Click here to check out the new modules and resources. Please direct feedback to Rich at [email protected].
Montana Rapid Retraining funds are available to help more people enroll in workforce training programs and expand industry-driven accelerated workforce training courses. The Great Falls Job Service can assist with Rapid Retaining Efforts. Contact Beth Schmidt at 406-791-5869 or [email protected]. For business strategy/planning help to take advantage of this one-time opportunity, contact our Small Business Development Center (SBDC) regional director, Jason Nitschke at [email protected]
What if you could step back for a couple hours a month, discuss issues with similar size companies and work on your business growth? We invite CEOs to join PeerSpectives, a CEO roundtable system with structured, facilitate protocols. When companies reach the second stage (typically 10+ employees, $1m + in revenue) they have unique challenges and this model is designed to maximize your opportunities. Call Jason Nitschke to discuss, 750.0314. Participation is limited by size and industry. Learn more about this proven system here.
Attention Veteran-Owned Businesses! In less than a year the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) will transfer to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). As of January 1, 2023, all functions of VA’s CVE will be handled by the SBA. To help make this a seamless transition, we encourage all self-certified SDVOSBs to complete the verification process through the VA now before the transfer becomes effective. Please start the verification process at https://vetbiz.va.gov/vip/. For more information on starting the verification process, contact Lillian Sunwall at [email protected].
The best resource we scan daily to stay abreast of business and community innovation is MATR.net (Montana Associated Technology Roundtables) which we are proud to help sponsor. Sign up for their free newsletter.
The Montana Department of Commerce launched an investment matchmaking website for Montana business projects. The Opportunity Exchange’s - Montana Investment Portal is a website where investors can easily view and connect to projects in the state. Click here to view listed projects. Click here to get your investment project listed on the portal. For help posting your project or property on the Montana Investment Portal, contact Kristian Richardson at 406-841-2032 or [email protected].
Join the Trailing Partner Email Group specifically for employers to share resumes of trailing spouses/partners across the Great Falls region with other employers looking to hire. “Your (Live in Great Falls) website is very impressive and helpful! Great Falls looks amazing, and we love what we've seen real estate-wise, and business-wise.” This quote was from an email sent to us from a couple considering relocation to Great Falls. We will be sharing their resumes (with their permission) on the Trailing Partner Email Group.
Looking to take control of your business’s financials, increase profit, and improve your bottom line? We have had interest from businesses in scheduling a Profit Mastery course. These courses are scheduled by demand. If you are interested in taking this two-day workshop, contact Jason Nitschke at [email protected] or call (406) 750-0314.
Visit our relocation website LiveInGreatFalls.com. This website was the #1 request we got from local recruiters and HR professionals for aiding in attracting talented workers to Great Falls. The Great Falls At-A-Glance two-pager is a great complementary resource that highlights Great Falls for people unfamiliar with our community.
We have Brownfield Clean-Up money that we want to put to work! Our low interest Brownfield Loans can be used to clean up hazardous materials including but not limited to lead paint, asbestos, etc. Are you working on a project that could use some clean up? Call Lillian today to discuss eligibility 406.750.1253 or [email protected].
Of our online business planning tool, LivePlan, one said: "LivePlan is Awesome!" The LivePlan tool is helping her streamline her strategy in preparation for presenting to bank partners. We offer LivePlan licenses for free to active clients. Learn more about LivePlan on our website.
All of our recorded monthly business strategy webinars are available online for viewing anytime, click them out here.
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Our Mission
Grow diverse economic opportunities that enhance quality of life.
GFDA is a certified Community Development Financial Institution and a 501(c)3 charitable organization. High Plains Financial is a certified Community Development Corporation that offers SBA 504 loans statewide. GFDA and High Plains Financial are Equal Opportunity Employers and Lenders.
GFDA is proud to host a Montana Small Business Development Center, a Montana Procurement Technical Assistance Center, and a Montana Food & Ag Development Center. We are also proud to provide office space for MSU's Montana Manufacturing Extension Center and an SBA Women's Business Center in partnership with the University of Montana and the Montana Native Growth Fund.
GFDA was the first economic development organization in the Rocky Mountain West to earn accreditation from the International Economic Development Council.
For more info, click to our website.
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